Rising Tide
by JoshNeku
Summary: Konishi had forbidden them from seeing the humans and Joshua obeyed. However, this boy...this boy he couldn't help but attempt to be friends with him. JoshNeku, ShoKariya. T to be safe.


Chapter 1

**What's this? A new JoshNeku story?**

**Yeah I've been sitting on this for a while. I have no phone currently since it's being repaired and have been bored as a result. So, I decided to finish the first chapter and put it up to see what you guys think.**

**May or may not continue; I'm actually working on finishing an original so we'll see.**

**I don't own TWEWY.**

**Please Read and Review. :D**

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Humans were dangerous.

They were cunning and evil.

They trapped fish and other animals and either devoured them or stuck them in cages for amusement until the creature died.

Joshua had been taught that by his pod leader at a young age.

Avoid humans at all costs. Don't let them see you and don't seek them out.

At fifteen, Joshua was used to Konishi repeating the warning to make sure he, Beat, and Rhyme understood the dangers humans posed to their kind.

Humans were inquisitive, but destructive.

They polluted rivers and skies, built large buildings to block out the sun, tore up the ground to put down a hard black substance which the loud, strange beasts they rode in roamed.

They were curious. That was what fascinated Joshua.

He had never seen the buildings that Konishi spoke of nor swam in dirty water or heard the roar of the metal beasts.

However, Konishi further explained the human's curiosity.

They wished to discover their kind.

Setting traps, cameras to try and document them.

It was a disgusting curiosity and Konishi made sure to let it sink in that if a human caught them, they would not be seen again.

Alive.

Joshua was a merman in a small pod within a tiny grove that had fruit trees overhanging the enclosed area off the east coast of Maui.

His sparkling silver tail had small ridges along the back and the tail fin was forked, tapering off into long, flowing tips.

His skin was pale as he rarely sunned himself and he was thin despite being fifteen and eating regularly.

His hair was ash-blond in color and went to the middle of his neck; Rhyme always compared Joshua's eyes to amethysts though he never saw what she did.

Like every other merperson, Joshua had webbed hands with retractable claws for hunting and fin-like ears that helped to amplify the sound underneath the water so he could hear if Konishi was calling for him.

Two slits were cut into either side of his neck and functioned like gills, allowing him to breathe underwater, but after several minutes above water he would have to submerge so as not to die from too much oxygen.

Joshua was currently swimming through the clear water languidly, arms loosely held at his sides, simply enjoying the pace he was going at.

He had not particular destination in mind, just glad that Konishi had allowed him to leave the grove for a while, lazily turning in a sideways spiral as he felt the afternoon sun's rays pierce the water and warm his scales.

The merman decided that he would find a rock to sun himself on for a few minutes before continuing his lazy swim until it was time to return home.

Joshua surfaced with a small sigh, shaking his head as he chirped softly, before gazing around him to see where he was to search for a perfect sunning rock.

Nothing around him looked particularly familiar and the teen realized he had never gone into this portion of his territory before.

Several yards away, Joshua noticed a pristine beach with a few sharp rocks close to the shoreline.

Up a small slope behind the beach was a lone house with a large, wraparound porch and open doors to let in the island's warm air and bright sunlight.

Sitting on the sand with his legs slightly drawn up to his chest was a boy wearing white shorts and a purple tank top.

Gasping in alarm, Joshua ducked down until his gills were submerged beneath the softly shifting water before he slowly lifted his head higher, becoming curious.

What was that boy doing on his legs?

Joshua dove back under the water, flicking his tail once to propel himself, and swam toward the nearest rock close to the beach's shore but still far from the shallows.

Cautiously peering around the corner of the jagged rock, holding one hand against it to support himself as the waves were a bit stronger around the rock, Joshua stared at the human boy, noticing that he appeared to be around his age.

The boy had slightly darker skin than Joshua did, revealing how much he was in the sun, and had a fuzzy yellow strap around his left wrist as well as circular purple things covering his ears.

A white square thing was resting against his legs and the boy held a long black thing in his right hand, moving it across the white square slowly.

Joshua craned his neck, struggling to see what exactly the boy was doing.

With a startled click, Joshua ducked back under the water when the boy glanced up from the strange square item on his legs.

Waiting several seconds, the young merman cautiously peeked above the water to see the boy looking at his legs again, hand once again moving across the thing on them.

Pressing himself closer to the rock, lifting himself until his waist was slightly above the water, Joshua attempted to get a better look at what the boy was doing before his eyes landed on the boy's bowed face and he suddenly found himself enraptured by the human's appearance.

He had never seen a human like this boy before.

Wanting to get an even closer look, Joshua pushed off the rock, softly splashing back beneath the waves and swimming to a rock even closer to the shore, popping up behind it.

He had to be at least thirty feet from the human teen, the closest he had ever been to a human.

Joshua glanced around the rock, quietly observing the human, tail slowly moving to keep himself in place.

The boy's hair was spiky and orange, a contrast to Joshua's ash-blond hair, and he had such beautiful eyes that reminded Joshua of where the sky met the ocean.

Joshua pressed himself closer to the rock, nails digging in the sides, wishing to approach the boy.

He wanted to hear his voice. Touch him; he had never touched a human before.

His hair also fascinated Joshua as he wondered how it stayed spiked in that way and if it was hard or soft.

However, Joshua decided to try a different tactic rather than boldly approach the human.

He didn't want him to freak out at the sight of the merman…or risk getting attacked.

* * *

Neku yawned as he trudged down the beach, holding his sketch book in one hand, headphones slung around his neck and iPod in the pocket of his shorts.

It was Saturday and the orange-haired teen enjoyed the early morning sun that was just barely beginning to pull itself from the ocean.

The orange and red reflecting against the gentle water surface was beautiful.

The sun and water always made for a good muse when Neku was sketching.

The beach Neku was walking on was his own private beach.

He lived in a beach house with his older brother, by seven years, and he had lived on Maui for three years.

Originally, he had come from Shibuya, Japan, living with his grandfather after his mother had died when he was ten; his father had divorced Neku's mother when he had been young and taken Kariya to Maui with him.

After the grandfather had passed away years ago, Kariya had offered to take Neku in so Neku now lived with his brother who he had only seen in pictures; his father had died around the same time the grandfather did, so Neku hadn't gotten to meet his father, but it didn't matter.

Neku disliked his father for separating him and Kariya.

Neku enjoyed Maui. It was warm and within three years, he had taken up surfing and was getting pretty good at it; Neku also occasionally did skateboard, but it was turning out to be more difficult than surfing.

It wasn't like he missed Shibuya that much. He returned to the city with Kariya during the holidays to visit his aunt and great-grandmother.

Although it was always a shock to return because of the difference in weather, but Neku had since learned to deal with it.

In his three years on the island Neku hadn't made any friends, but he hadn't attempted.

He liked being alone.

There were, however, two classmates of his that always attempted to talk with him or get him to talk with them; he never bothered with their names, calling them Stalker's Friend and Stalker With A Pig.

But, no, it wasn't a pig. It was a cat.

Same difference.

Neku considered Mr. Hanekoma an acquaintance more than a friend, though the man had different ideas on their relationship, nicknaming Neku 'Phones' because of how he always seemed to have his headphones on.

Mr. Hanekoma ran a café on the island called WildKat and he not only served coffee, but amazing fruit smoothies; Neku enjoyed the banana-mango smoothie.

Neku sighed as he finally made it to the main part of the beach, the sand beneath his bare feet still faintly cold from the night before, and started padding to the spot he normally sat at to start sketching.

The spot he had chosen was a great area to sketch as he had an amazing view of the ocean.

As Neku approached his spot, he paused several feet from it, noticing a small Flame Angelfish lying where he normally sat.

Puzzled, Neku looked between the fish and the water softly lapping at the shore, wondering how it could have even managed to get where it was.

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Hiding behind the rock close to the shore, Joshua's ears pricked up when he saw the boy approaching.

He watched the human stop and stare at the fish, tail flicking slowly with his fin tips barely lifting out of the water as he tilted his head and waited for the boy to accept his gift.

He had caught the fish earlier that morning after he had awakened, swimming off from the pod before Konishi woke up and attempted to confine him to the grove for the day.

The human looked from the fish to the water then back to the fish, looking confused.

Joshua watched eagerly, ears lowering then pricking as he awaited the boy's reaction, chirping softly to himself.

The merman gasped in alarm, his ears drooping when the orange-haired boy kicked the fish away.

Frowning slightly, Joshua sank back into the water until it was up to his gills, watching the boy sit down with the white thing on his legs.

Perhaps the boy disliked the fish. Or he did not like that kind of fish.

Maybe he needed to find a different fish for the boy.

* * *

"What the fuck?!"

The past few days after the first fish had appeared in his spot on the beach, more fish had appeared in the exact same spot.

At first it was small fish. Then they began to get progressively larger until Neku had to start throwing them back into the water.

And now it was a fucking stingray!

Neku glared at the stingray before looking around, wondering who the hell was playing a prank on him.

Giving a defeated sigh, Neku moved closer to the ray, dropping his sketchpad so he could use both hands.

Neku gave a startled yelp when the stingray lashed out its tail, immediately leaping back to avoid the stinger.

It was still alive?!

Waiting until the ray calmed down, Neku crept behind it and grabbed its tail, dragging it to the water where he turned and shoved it away when he was deep enough, watching as the ray disappeared with an irritated flick of its tail.

Huffing to himself, Neku grabbed his discarded sketchpad and plopped down, beginning to sketch.

Joshua frowned to himself as he sank beneath the water, putting a hand to his chin as he plotted how to get the human's attention.

The stingray he had dragged up onto the beach shrieked at him angrily upon noticing Joshua, screaming indignities at the merman.

Joshua gave the stingray an irritated swat on the head with his tail, turning and swimming back to the grove to plot.

* * *

Neku stared at the colorful scallop shell, not quite sure how he should react.

It was at least a change of pace form the constant appearance of random fish.

And the seashell was beautiful.

Crouching down and opening his sketchpad, Neku began to draw the shell, lifting it slightly to admire how the sun glinted off the shell's surface.

From his watching post, Joshua smiled to himself, proud that he had finally gotten the boy's attention.

He liked seashells. Colorful seashells.

Excited, Joshua dove back beneath the waves and swam off rapidly to find more seashells to gain the human's admiration.

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**Yeah! First chapter, done! :D Hope you enjoy. :)**

**Please Read and Review.**


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